Always There Part 1 by Yinx
"Mercedes we're here"
Evangeline Jones pulled the small SUV into the parking lot of Springtime Academy. She had just finish dropping her ten year old son off at a charter school across town. Now she turned around in her seat and smiling at five year old sitting in the booster in the back seat.
Mercedes Jones chewed at her bottom lip peeking over the door and out the window of the car. She wore her favorite purple dress with white dots and cream sweater that had butterfly silhouettes in purple, with black tights and purple Mary Jane's. Evangeline grabbed her daughter's shoes playfully shaking her out of her thoughts.
"You ready baby girl"?
The almond eyed girl nodded and soon found herself in front of a class of eleven clutching her Lion King II backpack. She looked around noticing that the little desks were organized into squares and the only one with a free seat was the group in the middle with and Asian girl and two boys one with brown hair and an up turned nose and shaggy blonde with a huge smile directed at her.
Miss Wilkerson was a pudgy middle age woman that reminded Mercedes of Miss Piggy and it didn't hurt that she smelt faintly of bacon.
"Class this is Mercedes Jones. She and her family just moved here all the way from Orlando, Florida" Miss Wilkerson smiled from the child to the class. "Yes Blaine".
Mercedes looked over to a boy sitting behind the dark haired boy with the pug nose. He had curly dark brown hair that stood wildly all around and eyes that had every color of the rainbow. "That's were Disneyworld is, right"? His voice was quite musical sounding.
"Yes Blaine and I'm sure Mercedes will talk about it at break." Wilkerson beamed "For now Mercedes take the seat next to Tina" she pointed to the chair next to the nervous looking Asian child. She gave Mercedes gently shove and the five year old clinging to the pack to her chest made her way over. Mercedes sat down and smiled sheepishly to her seatmates. Miss Wilkerson gave Mercedes a note book and two pencils.
"Okay class time for addition practice".
Mercedes chewed her bottom lip as she thought on the math problem of nine plus five. She looked up to find the shaggy hair kid smiling at her.
"Hi" he grinned his light green eyes sparkling, he stuck out his hand at her.
Mercedes sat up looking at him then his hand he wore a Lion King T- shirt with Simba on the front. Mercedes smiled back shyly and took his hand "Hi".
"My name is Sam… Sam Evans." Mercedes noticed he had a collection of the movies erasers and pencils scattered around his desk. "I like Lion King too" he pointed to her back pack.
Mercedes smiled "I like Kiara, she my favorite"
"She's okay" Sam shrugged at her "but Kovu he's the best!"
"Sam, Mercedes we are supposed to be working on our math problems" Miss Wilkerson scolded gently from her desk in back of the classroom.
Mercedes went back to her problem and back to biting her lip. Sam saw she was struggling and felt bad seeing his new found friend like that. "Mom says if you use your fingers like this" he counted to nine on his fingers. "Then add five more. Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen"! He exclaimed.
"Samuel Evans" Miss Wilkerson said from her desk "Come here". Sam gave Mercedes huge smile that made a dimple in right cheek grow deeper. He hopped down and went over.
Mercedes watched after him and saw his smile fade as he got scolded by the teacher. She felt her heart drop she had gotten her first friend in trouble because she couldn't figure out her stupid math problem. She looked down at her problem and wrote down the number fourteen and busied herself with the next one when she heard Sam come back to his chair.
"Mercedes" he whispered. He watched her count the next problem on her tiny fingers like he taught her. Smiling proud of himself he whispered again to her. "Mercedes" he was sure she heard him. Kurt Hummel the boy with the up turned nose had made a face of slight disgust at him and Tina just glanced at him and returned to her work; but his new friend didn't look up. "Mercedes…um Cede"?
Mercedes looked up at him "That's not my name" she pointed out sharply.
Sam was taken aback he glanced down nervously "Sorry, but you wouldn't answer me" he whispered. He watched her return to her work. He sighed and finished up his quiz.
"Alright quiz is over. Table leaders collect the papers" Miss Wilkerson smiled getting up.
"Ppp…ppp…pass mmm…me your ppp…pp…paper" Tina stuttered not making eye contact.
Mercedes passed her the paper. 'Mercedes' Sam tried again. Mercedes looked at him. "Yeah"
"Sorry I called you Cede" he said softly playing a bit with his character erasers.
Mercedes thought for a bit deciding that she actually liked 'Cede'. No one in her family called her that it was Baby Girl, Mercedes or Merce; never Cede. "I like it, no one calls me that"
Sam looked up beaming ear to ear "Really"? Mercedes nodded. "Cede, I like it. You can call me Sammy"
"Okay" she grinned back "Sammy".
Sam couldn't believe his luck he had friend. The kids in his class had been not as friendly as he hoped when he and his family moved from Tennessee; but a month of eating and playing by himself, his new favorite person came into his life. She played with him shared her lunch when his mother packed tuna, and even laughed at his attempt of mimicking Mufasa.
"I'll get it one day, Cede" he said determined "I'll do a great Mufasa one day.
"Sure you will" she smiled back reassuring him.
His eyes popped open on Halloween day. He was so excited he was going to see Cede for the first time outside of school they were going to go trick-or-treating together. Sam Evans dropped down from his bunk bed and rummaged through the clean clothes on the bottom bunk. He found his costume shirt; he was dressed for school before long. The school was letting the children dress up in their costumes for the day. He prided himself being able to dress himself. Santana Lopez a Hispanic girl in school that made fun of his mouth and haircut said that her nanny dressed her. Sam thought it was stupid and in turn she made sure that everyone called him Guppy by the end of the first week of school. But he shut them up when he tied his own shoelaces while everyone else was still in Velcro and buckles.
Sam waited at the front of the playground looking for a small red SUV to arrive. He scratched his ear, the Kovu cub costume with his head in the mouth of mask was the most uncomfortable thing he ever wore. He rolled back and forth on the balls of his feet, he saw her car. The smile on his face was matched by his friend as she ran up to him. Her Kiara costume was different from the one he saw in the party store. She wore her hair down that poofed in tight curls all over her head and was pushed back by cat ear headband. Her face was painted with a simple lioness makeup and she wore a homemade body suit that was the exact color of Kiara.
"Sammy" she beamed greeting him, then reached up and petted his mask like a cat. Sam purred smiling back. "I like your costume"
Sam looked down at the store bought silhouette of Kovu body. "Thanks yours is better" he said slightly jealous of it.
"My mommy made it." Mercedes smiled "Look what it does" she handed him her pack, then unbuttoned a button by her sleeve she release mittens the shape of paws.
"AWESOME" Sam cried doing the other one himself. "Can your mom make my costume next year"?
"I'll ask her" Mercedes answered taking her pack as Santana, a blonde girl with green eyes named Quinn Fabray and another blonde with bangs named Brittany Pierce came up to them. They were all dressed as witches but in different colors.
"What are you supposed to be" Quinn asked Mercedes playing with her red medallion that matched her outfit.
"I'm Kiara, from the Lion King II" Mercedes said proudly showing her her paws.
Quinn looked at them rolling her eyes then at the two girls on either side of her and started laughing and they joined in though Brittany looked confused as why they were laughing.
"I think she looks awesome" Sam said stepping in front of his friend.
Santana snorted. "Guppy Face you should have gone as Flounder" she adjusted the green sleeves of her outfit.
"No I'm Kovu. What are you" Sam asked.
"We are the Hex Girls" Quinn smirked.
Mercedes screwed up her face "The what"?
"Hex Girls, from Scooby-Doo" Brittany smiled happily. "We have a song and everything"
"My mom doesn't let me watch Scooby-Doo" Mercedes said.
The small version Hex Girls laughed again.
"Well when you're done being a baby…" Santana began crossing her arms.
"I'm not a baby" Mercedes snapped back as the bell to start class rang and kids began to run up to the school.
The Hex Girls put in there fake vampire teeth that looked awfully real and hissed at the Disney couple before flapping their winged sleeves like bats and hurried inside.
Sam looked at his friend and saw her sniff as she picked up her pack. "Um if you cry Cede your make up will get messed up." He blurted nervously at her. He didn't want to see her cry not today. Today was special they were going to be together outside of school for the first time. She couldn't be sad not today at least.
"I'm not going to cry…I'm not a baby" she blinked back tears then headed in herself.
Sam tried his best to make his friend happy all morning long but she hadn't smiled since their meeting. Worst off the Hex Girls who sat with a boy named Finn Hudson would hiss and call her 'Baby Kiara', and play like they were crying throughout the morning; finally it was lunch time.
Sam took Mercedes hand and led her far away from the rest of the kids in their class to where Tina Cohen-Chang sat by herself. Tina was a good friend of his, though she didn't talk much she was nice to him. Sam wanted his new friend to know her too.
"Can we eat lunch with you" he asked the shy girl.
Tina looked up surprised at the company "Ssssure" she smiled.
Mercedes sat down next to her "You're a cat" she smiled at Tina elaborate costume. The black lace tutu and leotard brought unwanted attention.
"Yyy…yes" Tina smiled looking at her soup "My mmmm….mom mmmm…made it fff…for mmm…me".
"My mom made mine too" Mercedes exclaimed opening her lunch kit to a turkey and cheese sandwich, Doritos, carrots, an orange and an apple juice box. "What do you have Sammy"? Sam looked at his lunch tuna, with cracker, apple slices, potato chips, and a Sunny-D. "I'll trade you my Doritos for your chips, their cool ranch" Mercedes held up the bag. Sam made the switch in a flash and Mercedes gave him half her sandwich.
"Thanks Cede" Sam smiled taking a bite from the sandwich.
Tina looked up at the two friends "Cccc…Cedes? Is tttt…that your name"?
"No" Mercedes popped a chip in her mouth "It's Mercedes, but Sam gave me a nickname of Cede, I think it's cute" she munched smiling at Sam who turned a bright red in the cheeks.
"I like Cede" Tina smiled at Mercedes and the girls started laughing.
Sam sipped his juice box looking between the two girls "No"! He blurted out again.
The girls stopped laughing and starred at him. "No what, Sammy" Mercedes asked cocking her head to the side.
"Cede is mine" he said glaring at Tina who slumped her shoulders as she went back to her soup. "Um…I mean I'm the only one that can call her that".
"I didn't say that Sammy. You can't be the only one that can call me Cede" Mercedes pointed out.
"Yes I can. You're my friend not Tina's"
"I can be friends with Tina if I want…you can't tell me what to do" Mercedes crossed her arms. "Tina is my friend, Sam"
Sam shook his head she hadn't called him Sam since the first they met; it sounded odd coming from her. "Fine Tina can be your friend" he sighed. He didn't want her mad at him.
"And she can call me Cede" Mercedes smiled nudging Tina's side until she smiled.
"No she can't" Sam said still determined that Cede was his and his alone.
"How about Cccc…Cedes" Tina stammered looking between them.
"That works as long as it's not Cede" Sam smiled at Tina then at Mercedes who didn't return it but went back to her lunch. "Do you like it, Cede? Do you like Cedes"? He asked trying to get her attention.
"I like Cedes better than Cede" was the last thing she said to him until he told her his mom was here to pick them up from school.
"How was school" Linda Evans smiled at the two children from the rearview mirror.
"Good, thank you Mrs. Evans" Mercedes smiled.
"Samuel how was your day" Linda eyed her son; she saw him glance at Mercedes with a solemn look. "Samuel what's going on"?
Sam sighed still looking at Mercedes "Cede is mad…"
"My name is Mercedes" the girl cub hissed at him.
Linda pulled into a parking lot of a Rooms-To-Go. Shutting off the engine she turned around to the children. "Explain" she said sternly looking between the both of them. The kids looked at each other but didn't talk. "One of you better start or no trick-or-treating" she eyed them.
Sam sighed "Mercedes doesn't want to be my friend anyone" he said on the verge of tears.
"I see" Linda smiling slightly at how hurt her son was over this revelation. "Did Miss Jones say that she didn't want to be your friend"?
"No I didn't say that" Mercedes said worrying at her friend starting to cry by her side.
"You didn't talk to me all day" Sam whined at her, his eyes swimming with tears.
"Cause you were being selfish, Sam" she pointed out softly.
"Samuel is this true" Linda asked her golden eyes narrowed at her son.
Sam bit his lip nodding "She said Tina could call her Cede, but Cede is mine I gave her that nickname and she" he pointed at Mercedes "calls me Sammy; that how it works".
"Tina calls me Cedes cause she's my friend" Mercedes said gently. "But you are my best friend Sammy".
Sam green eyes widened "I am" he smiled. Mercedes nodded. "You're my best friend too" he hugged her tightly.
Linda smiled at the two "That's better. Now that you two are friends again…"
"Best friends" Sam smiled still hugging Mercedes giving her a squeeze.
"Sammy I can't breathe" Mercedes gasped trying to moved.
Sam immediately let go. "Sorry Cede and I'm sorry that I said Tina can't call you Cede".
"'Pology accepted" she smiled.
"Alright onward to dinner then…" Linda began starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot.
"TRICK-OR-TREATING"! The best friends yelled.